Boxscore
Photo Gallery
Dave Clawson Audio
Tyler Sheehan and Willie Geter Audio
Tim Beckman Audio
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green football team blocked two first-quarter punts and jumped out to a 24-0 lead before holding on to beat rival Toledo 38-24 Friday afternoon in Doyt Perry Stadium.
Willie Geter rushed for 114 yards and scored three touchdowns, salting the game away with a back-breaking 61-yard jaunt late in the fourth quarter, as the Falcons held off a late-charging Toledo squad. Biletnikoff finalist Freddie Barnes caught nine passes for 69 yards and had two touchdowns. Barnes finished with 138 regular-season receptions, leaving him four shy of the NCAA FBS record. If Bowling Green is invited to a Bowl Game at 7-5, all statistics count towards season totals.
Bowling Green blocked punts on Toledo's first two possessions setting up Geter's first touchdown, a one-yard plunge 11:35 to go in the first, and a Barnes four-yard score from Tyler Sheehan with 9:08 to play in the opening quarter. On the Falcons' third possession, Toledo forced a punt but the Rockets' Eric Page fumbled the boot and Jarrett Sanderson recovered it at the one-yard line. Geter scored on the next play to make it 21-0 less than 10 minutes into the contest. Matt Norsic added a 22-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the opening frame to make it 24-0.
Toledo battled back with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to make it 24-14 and added a third-quarter field goal to make it 24-17. The Rockets tied the score on a four-yard plunge with 13:08 to go in the game but the Falcons answered with a 17-yard Barnes touchdown and Geter's one-yard score with 1:27 to go.
Toledo ends the season with a record of 5-7 overall and 3-5 in Mid-American Conference play. Bowling Green improved to 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the MAC. The Falcons will await a possible Bowl bid.
Notes
*Bowling Green has now won three in a row versus Toledo for the first time since 1992-94. It is also the first time the Falcons beat Toledo and Miami in the same season since 1994.
*Willie Geter finished the game with 16 carries for 114 yards and three touchdowns, a career-high. He now has six touchdowns in his last four games.
*Tyler Sheehan completed 19-of-31 passes for 137 yards and added 28 yards on the ground. For his career he now has 10,123 total yards from scrimmage, the most ever in BGSU history.
*Last week Sheehan became the all-time school leader in pass completions and added his name to the top of the list for pass attempts. For his career the senior has 1,447 pass attempts.
*Sheehan hooked up with Freddie Barnes for a four-yard touchdown in the first quarter. It was Sheehan’s 21st straight game with a touchdown pass, third longest streak in the country.
*Speaking of Barnes, the nation’s leading receiver finished with a game-high nine catches for 69 yards, extending his streak to seven straight games with a receiving touchdown. Barnes, who finished with one rushing score to his credit, has scored multiple times in games six different times in 2009.
*Barnes now has 138 catches this season, tied for third most all-time in NCAA history. He trails just Manny Hazard (142), Troy Edwards (140) and is tied with Nate Burleson (138) for the NCAA record.